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Bayou More at IMDbPro »

12 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
What a Wonderful Swamp!, 27 February 2001
Author: Son of Cathode from New England

Many know the story of this notorious trash classic. United Artists released it as LEGEND OF THE BAYOU in 1956, and it went nowhere. Infamous exploitation guru M.A. Ripps acquired re-release rights, slapped on a new wraparound and title, and sent it out to drive-ins across America with a lurid ad campaign that whet the appetites of all but the dead ("Due to the abnormal subject matter depicted in POOR WHITE TRASH, no-one under 17 will be admitted, and armed policemen will be on hand at all times!!!") And there the legend ends for most people, who've never seen the film, due to reviewers dismissing it as "mediocre", "boring," "a real nothing," etc. But in fact, PWT is a well-crafted, steamy and gripping melodrama with gorgeous black and white photography and enough over-the-top performances to put it on anyone's cultfilm faves list. Graves, fresh from IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, is engaging as Martin, wimpy white-bread architect who learns he must fight, and fight dirty, to survive in backwoods America (and get the sexy chick). Milan is fiery and flirty as the sultry half-breed, speaking with a French accent but looking more like an Italian maid or Gypsy fortune teller. Tim Carey plays the villain, a nasty Greek jerk named Ulysses, in a performance that can only be described as breathtaking. U's Cajun dance, in which he grabs at himself up and howls like a wolf, looks like a cross between convulsive seizure and autoerotic stimulation, and is one of the most astoundingly bizarre moments in cultfilm history. And if that don't get you, how about everybody's favorite nebbish, Jonathan Haze, as Ulysses' deaf-mute flunky? Most of the remaining, peripheral characters talk in such a heavy (probably authentic) French/Cajun accent, you can't understand but half of it. Director Daniels really knows what he's doing. There's some great montage work and optical tricks worthy of the best foreign art film. There's an excruciatingly sensual rape scene, where Marie and Ulysses run through the dark woods and tangle in the muddy swamps, that's arty and sexual and very heavy (and also gives the film its notorious near-nude scene, as the busty Marie rolls around the mud in bra and panties). When, at film's end, Marie and Martin finally get it together, they do it in a shack during a curiously-timed hurricane, giving their animal passion a most apt and gripping visual metaphor. With this and A DATE WITH DEATH (the infamous subliminal motion picture) under his belt, Daniels is one of the unexplored enigmas of 50s indie filmmaking. And its all punctuated by a great, virtually avant-garde score by Gerald Fried, blending various ethnic musical motifs, including some percussive riffs that are downright experimental. Producer Ripps' addition to this flick, other than its healthy second life, is a silly wraparound wherein a wandering minstrel strolls through the shady glen, plucking a banjo and singing the title song, which sounds suspiciously like a rip-off of that old public domain chestnut, "Shortnin' Bread". Now, thanks to crystal-clear video, we can see, as opposed to being the laughable throwaway piece of trashfilm lore, what an astounding film this really is.

9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Worth seeking out only for Timothy Carey, 17 April 2006

Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA

The film is legendary among cult cinema and drive-in fans for several reasons. It was originally released in 1957 as a standard hicksploitation flicker, and flopped horribly. However, four years later, a produced picked it up for distribution again, added an incredibly lurid campaign that showcased and exaggerated the film's subtle sexuality, and added new sequences and footage. He also changed the film's title from the dull "Bayou" to the more profitable "Poor White Trash". The film was cleverly over-hyped, and became a box office hit. One asks if its either a trashy cult classic or a bore that made money off clever marketing? To be honest, it is neither. It isn't the trashiest and most entertaining exploitation film ever made. However, it certainly has its moments, almost all of them involving Timothy Carey as the villain.

The film is about an architect who gos to Cajun country. There he falls in love with a beautiful young Cajun girl. However, she has been arranged to marry the vile and sleazy Ulysses. All this makes Ulysses very unhappy, so he plans to make life a living hell for the architect.

One wonders how an actor such as Peter Graves was drawn into starring in this film. His years of super stardom with "Mission Impossible" were still ahead of him, yet he had already gained some notice for his role in "Stalag 17". Surely, he could've done better than this tawdry exploitation quickie, and he seems to be in it for the sole purpose of picking up a check. He is generally bored, and when its only him and the young Cajun girl on screen, the film is tedious.

The one aspect of the film that makes it worth seeking out is Timothy Carey. The actor has a generally bizarre screen appearance that gained him a small yet loyal following, which I am a proud member of. As Ulysses, he infuses all his great qualities as an actor. If you have seen him as the hired gun in "The Killing" or as one of the soldiers awaiting execution in "Paths of Glory", you know he is an unique actor. With the exception of the film he made himself "The World's Greatest Sinner", this gave him his biggest opportunity to shine. His dance towards the end is one of the most outrageous moments in cult film history. In every role he played, he infused his trademark creepy surrealism. Whenever he is on screen, the film lives up to all the hype. When he isn't in the scene, the film drags incredibly.

As I stated, this film is worth watching only for Carey. That is the sole reason why it is held in esteem by some trash fans. His performance is amazing and one of the greatest in drive-in cinema. When the film is devoted to Graves and the other actors, it is worthless. It is worth tracking down a copy of overall, and is available from Sinister Cinema. (5/10)

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
...not a nickle in my jeans..., 5 January 2006

Author: haildevilman from Tokyo, Japan

Classic cult drama. A young Peter Graves post-Stalag 17 pre-Mission:Impossible made a good naive hero. This film absolutely reeks of 1950's country living. (Or should that be livin')

It's your basic city boy comes to the boonies and wins over Miss young and pretty despite the reluctant father and jealous bloodthirsty boyfriend story.

Timothy Carey as Ulysses (said boyfriend) did an excellent job. Extremely polite to the older folks while giving Graves the laser beam eyes. He had a habit of playing intensity like it was pure gold. If you can find it...find it.

4 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
A waste of time, money and advertising..., 29 July 2000
Author: Teenie from Warwick, Pa.

I remember this film being shown in local theatres as "For Adults Only." I was 7 years old at the time. Thirty years later I found this film in the video store under the title, "Poor White Trash," as it was billed in the theatres along with "Shanty Tramp." There is no "adult" shock value to this piece of crap whatsoever.

What you have is a poor, grainy, mostly dark celluloid that contains scenes of what would be considered "PG" today: a scene of Lita Milan's character running through the woods naked (the camera shot the scene from so far away all you really see is a ghostlike figure running, pursued by a man in a white shirt (Tim Carey). The subsequent rape scene shows Lita Milan's screaming head going back and forth (you can imagine what's happening); the "sex" scene in the cabin involves a shot of Peter Graves' hand on Lita Milan's back between shots of pounding waves; the "violence" involves a quickie shot of an axe protuding from Tim Carey's back after the climactic fight with Peter Graves (no wonder Peter Graves would rather be remembered for "Mission: Impossible."). Tim Carey is at his slimy best, but the movie really sucks. Oh, and Jonathan Haze looking like he's on some drug...pass on this one.

4 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
This movie is really BAD!, 24 October 1999
Author: Bob-587

Just to show you how good IMDb really is, they have covered even this movie? It has been 42 years since I saw this much hyped, black and white joke. A group of us went to a drive-in thinking that we were going to see some nudity. After suffering through a movie that was shot almost entirely in the dark and in a swamp, nothing happened. What a loser! Has been the standard for 42 years for a bad movie.

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